Goaltide Daily Current Affairs 2021
Current Affair 1:
Surangam or Suranga in South India similar to Karez in Afghanistan
Current Affair 2:
Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, has given its approval for ratification of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
Implementation strategy and targets:
- National strategy for phase down of Hydrofluorocarbons as per the applicable phase down schedule for India will be developed after required consultation with all the industry stakeholders by 2023.
- Amendments to the existing legislation framework, the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules to allow appropriate control of the production and consumption of Hydrofluorocarbons to ensure compliance with the Kigali Amendment will be done by mid-2024
About Kigali Agreement:
On August 18, the Union Cabinet agreed to ratify the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol – a significant development in the arena of global climate action.
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty that entered into force in 1989. Its signatories – which includes all UN member nations – are committed to phasing out the use and production of chlorofluorocarbons, compounds that led to the infamous hole in the ozone layer.
While the ozone hole has since been recovering, the treaty was amended in 2016 (for the ninth time) to include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which contribute significantly to global warming. The negotiations were conducted in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, and the inclusion was called the Kigali Amendment. It has been signed by more than 122 countries so far.
The terms of the Kigali Amendment entered into force in 2019.
India and Montreal:
India became a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer on 19 June 1992 and since then has ratified the amendments to the Montreal Protocol. Though the present approval of the Cabinet, India will be ratifying the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol for phase down of Hydrofluorocarbons.
India has successfully met the phase out targets of all the Ozone Depleting Substances as per the Montreal Protocol Schedule.
Current Affair 3:
Odisha Water harvesting system: Catch the Rain: Where it Falls and When it Falls.
A State-wide campaign on the theme ‘Catch the Rain: Where it Falls and When it Falls’ was launched on April 15 across all urban local bodies under Mukhyamantri Karma Tatpara Abhiyan Yojana (MUKTA), an urban wage employment scheme for migrant labourers.
Odisha has come up with more than 10,000 rainwater harvesting structures (RWHS) to facilitate water conservation and groundwater recharge in 114 towns in less than three-month time before onset of south-west monsoon.
Annual rainfall in Odisha varies from 1200 mm to 1800 mm making it a water surplus State.
Though the average rainfall in Odisha is measured as 1,400 mm, its spatial distribution is uneven and erratic. The State receives about 76% of rainfall between the period of mid-June and mid-September and receives the remaining 24% of the rainfall throughout the year.
The State has both coastal region and high land. “There is ample scope to arrest the surface runoff where it falls using contour techniques. The best possible option is to tap the runoff through construction of RWHS, there by addressing the key challenge of water scarcity in urban areas of the State.
The RWHS, which are being constructed in parks, playgrounds, open spaces and in vacant lands inside the institutions, have been planned in all the 2035 wards across 114 ULBs of the State.
Current Affair 4:
Hydro-Meteorological Calamities
Recently, the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed that nearly 6,800 people lost their lives in the country (West Bengal tops the list) over the past three years due to hydro-meteorological calamities such as flash floods, landslides and cyclones.
Hydro-Meteorological Calamities:
- Natural hazards are severe natural phenomena or events, broadly classified in two categories: hydro-meteorological and geological hazards.
- Tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms, floods and drought are hydro-meteorological hazards whereas earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are grouped under geological hazards.
- Landslides and avalanches are caused by a combination of geological and hydro-meteorological factors.
